Dean Stannard, 42, and Nicola Moran, 34, who live in Weaverhead Close, Thaxted, were hit by flash floods on Monday morning.

Their house, garden and two cars were filled with dirty water after the storm hit.

Miss Moran said: “Our daughter Tegan woke up because of the storm and we all went onto the landing and just saw the house full of water.

“We are devastated. I do not really know what to do – everything is ruined. We only had our new sofa delivered last week but that will have to go.”

Flooding in Weaverhead Close

The couple threw a party for their daughter on Saturday and had booked Monday off work to take her out. Instead, the youngster spent the day with a family friend while her parents tried to salvage what they could from the house.

Mr Stannard said he was “gutted” by what had happened.

Two other houses on Weaverhead Close were badly affected by the storms. David Coote, who lives next door to Mr Stannard and Miss Moran, said he had not seen anything like it in the 50 years he has lived there.

Firefighters were inundated with calls on Monday morning as the heavy rain caused chaos in the village. The flooding affected the B184 and numerous properties. It also hit a primary school and caused a road to collapse.

Crews from Thaxted, Saffron Walden and Dunmow were called to 20 flooding incidents and pumped water out of homes from 3am.

Residents of a rented property on Park Road are said to be “worried sick” after discovering their cellar had flooded while on holiday in Yorkshire.

The tenant’s dad, Ray Cornell, from Saffron Walden, said: “My son Sam saw on the news about the weather. He is worried sick. He does not know whether to come home or not.”

Slightly further up the road, 92-year-old Joan Lloyd and her neighbour Adam Barker both had flooded cellars. The water in Mr Barker’s cellar, which was up to 4ft high, destroyed irreplaceable items, such as newspaper clippings of his sister’s death.

Joan, who has lived in the house since she was 13-years-old, said she had only seen something like this happen once before, around 30 years ago.

She said: “I am not upset, we just have to get on with it. But everyone has been marvellous. People are so kind and they have all been flocking round. The lady from The Maltings even offered me a bed for the night if I needed one. This is such a helpful community.”